{"id":2589,"date":"2025-10-24T09:57:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/?p=2589"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:24:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T10:24:58","slug":"special-article-22nd-october-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/2025\/10\/24\/special-article-22nd-october-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Article 22nd October 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong><u>Need a law to protect domestic workers<\/u><\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>GS Paper II: Role of judiciary, governance, and social justice initiatives<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context: <\/strong>Supreme Court (Jan 2025) directed the Union Government to form a committee for a comprehensive domestic workers\u2019 law, report due by July 2025.\u200b<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As of October 2025, committee status is unclear and no law enacted, highlighting urgent need for protection.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Ongoing op-eds and state legislation efforts (e.g., Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) spotlight delays amid rising exploitation cases.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Why the Supreme Court Stepped In?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>SC acted after pleas about exploitation and absence of national law, leading to abuse, trafficking, and lack of rights.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Noted power imbalances, child labor, isolation, and need for enforceable protections and accountability in households.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Who Are Domestic Workers? Key Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Work includes cleaning, cooking, childcare, and elderly care; mostly women\/migrants from marginalized backgrounds.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>No formal contracts, low pay, long hours; vulnerable to discrimination and abuse.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>India has 4\u201350 million domestic workers, majority from SC\/ST communities and rural areas.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Challenges and Vulnerabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n<table width=\"727\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Issue<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"509\"><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Exploitation\/Abuse<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">Rampant child labor, sexual, physical abuse; isolation issues\u200b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Legal Protections<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">Lacks minimum wage, pensions, or regulated hours\u200b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wage Theft<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">Below-market pay, irregular payments, no overtime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Health\/Safety Risks<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">No insurance for hazardous conditions; vulnerable during crises<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Trafficking\/Confinement<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">Trafficked\/migrant workers face restricted mobility<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Discrimination<\/td>\n<td width=\"509\">Based on caste, gender, and migration status<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>International Framework \u2013 ILO Convention 189<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sets global standards for contracts, wages, rest periods, and protection from abuse; ratified by over 30 countries.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>India voted in favor but hasn\u2019t ratified, citing implementation challenges due to informality.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>National Efforts So Far<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>a) Legislative Attempts<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Bills since 1950s, Domestic Workers Bill (2017 and 2025) propose registration, minimum wages, and social security; progress slow.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>b) Judicial Interventions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>SC (2025): Directed committee\/report, but no status update as of Oct 2025.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>High Courts: Called for inclusion under existing labor laws and new frameworks for domestic workers.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>State Level Measures \u2013 Progressive Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 140px;\" width=\"875\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>State<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Law\/Initiative<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"367\"><strong>Main Provisions<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tamil Nadu<\/td>\n<td>Manual Workers Act, 1982; Welfare Board<\/td>\n<td width=\"367\">Pensions, maternity aid, MW<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Karnataka<\/td>\n<td>Domestic Workers Bill (2025, draft)<\/td>\n<td width=\"367\">Registration, written contract, MW, social security, tripartite board\u200b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>What Should the National Law Include<\/strong><\/p>\n<table width=\"718\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Measure<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"464\"><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Minimum Wages\/Hours<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">National wage, 8 hour limit, overtime, holidays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Written Contracts<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">Mandatory agreements for pay, duties, terms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Social Security<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">Pensions, insurance, maternity leave, welfare fund<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Protection Mechanisms<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">Abuse\/harassment complaints, inspections<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Registration\/Boards<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">Universal registration, boards for dispute<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inclusion<\/td>\n<td width=\"464\">Child\/migrant workers, anti-trafficking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Why a National Law is Urgently Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Absence of central law leads to exploitative conditions and fragmented rights.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>State solutions lack consistency and mobility protections for workers.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Enacting a national law meets ILO standards, boosts India\u2019s global labor reputation, and prevents exploitation.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Supreme Court-mandated action stalled; urgent, comprehensive law still needed to protect millions of vulnerable workers.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>National law can harmonize worker rights, address exploitation, and foster fair employment practices.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need a law to protect domestic workers GS Paper II: Role of judiciary, governance, and social justice initiatives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-article"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46.jpg",2048,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-768x768.jpg",640,640,true],"large":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-1024x1024.jpg",640,640,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-1536x1536.jpg",1536,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46.jpg",2048,2048,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/generated-image-46-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Nithin DTPoperator","author_link":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/author\/nithindtp\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/category\/special-article\/\" rel=\"category tag\">SPECIAL ARTICLE<\/a>","tag_info":"SPECIAL ARTICLE","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2589"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589\/revisions\/2608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}